Yesterday the Council met with our State Legislative Delegation – Senator Lou DiPalma, Senator Dawn Euer, Representative Marvin Abney, and Representative Lauren Carson. It was a productive discussion and exchange of ideas – I especially found the discussion around short term rental regulation helpful and will be moving forward on some of the ideas that were brought up, such as the potential to tax some short-term rentals as commercial property. I encourage you to watch the meeting if you weren’t in attendance.
This week’s Council meeting will begin with a Public Hearing on the proposed FY22 – FY26 Capital Improvement Plan. The CIP is a planning document that is used by City staff and departments to develop budget and project proposals. At the last Council meeting, there was a lot of discussion among the Council on how to be use the CIP for future planning. I made the recommendation that we schedule a workshop to further talk through the CIP and how to align it with the City’s goals presented in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. That workshop is now being scheduled and I will make sure to help publicize the date once it has been.
Our docket this week also includes a resolution that could recoup $1 million for the City through refinancing the original Pell School bond. The Finance Director has brought this resolution to the Council, which would allow the City to refund (essentially refinance) the remaining balance of the original Pell School bond, leading to a savings to the City. We would see savings of approximately $1M in fiscal year 2022 through the reduction of budgeted debt service costs. The budget workshops that I have pushed for will aid the Council in studying the budget closely so that this reduction is used to relieve some of the pressure on Newport’s budget in the coming year.
We are once again revisiting the question of whether food trucks should continue to be allowed on parts of Bellevue Avenue. When this was originally brought before the Council in July 2020, I was not in favor of removing Bellevue and my position has not changed. The current regulations are both clear and fair to business; food trucks may operate in all zoning districts where restaurants are allowed by right, so long as they are not closer than 250 feet to a restaurant. The part of Bellevue Ave that we are debating is zoned General Business, which allows for pharmacies, restaurants, law offices, food trucks, and more. If we want to prohibit a certain type of business in a specific zoning district of the city, it should be addressed through our zoning ordinances. This is why planning documents like the North End Urban Plan and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan are so important – they codify the community's vision of the City and help the residents, businesses, and Council work together to realize that vision.